1. Sydney

CHAPTER 1

SYDNEY

A familiar deep baritone voice echoed down the hallway and I froze mid-presentation. I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

Nick freaking Milton. Sexy-as-hell former running back for New England—and my ex-boyfriend.

What the hell was he doing back here?

Sure, he’d been amazing and we’d hit it off from the start, back when I was still working at my old PR firm. So what? That fairytale ended badly when Nick got traded to Arizona, leaving me behind on the east coast. Between the demands of his career and mine, it was almost impossible to coordinate our schedules for a quickie, let alone a real relationship.

So I did what I had to do to protect myself. I dumped him. Then cried alone on my couch in my condo for two entire days, but no one needed to know that.

“Sydney? Do you know what the timeline looks like on that?” asked Mr. Solomon, the CMO of the football team and my boss.

Gah. Nick was throwing me off my game and he wasn’t even in the room yet. I had to get out of Dodge ASAP before I got myself into trouble. I needed a run-in with Nick about as much as a blown fuse on my Christmas lights.

Nope. Not today.

Get it together, Syd. “Er, uh, yeah. I mean, yes.” I shuffled through my stack of papers, searching for the timeline. “The dates are January 6-10.” I glanced up just as Nick walked into the room. My stomach swooped as I took in all 6’3” of his gorgeousness.

“Sydney! You remember Nick Milton, right?” Mr. Solomon’s voice boomed as a hot blush flooded my cheeks.

Nick locked his hazel eyes on mine and my stomach flip-flopped so hard I thought I might lose my lunch.

My face flamed even hotter as I pushed down crazy butterflies and stammered, “Hey. Great to see you again.”

“You, too.” He smiled his lopsided, thousand-watt smile at me and honest-to-goodness, my knees went a little weak.

“Not sure if you saw the roster changes yet, Sydney, but Nick’s back with us,” Mr. Solomon said, slapping Nick on the back.

Nick grinned. “I’m thrilled to be back in Boston, sir, playing for the home team.”

“And we couldn’t be more pleased,” Mr. Solomon said.

“Wow. That’s great. Congrats.” I managed to squeeze the words out, despite my inner hyperventilation. “Well, I’ve got to run if you want these numbers later today, Mr. Solomon.” I pivoted towards the door, trying to run out of there faster than Rudolph on a Christmas Eve deadline.

“Sydney! You’re working the Annual Fundraiser at Copley Plaza on Thursday, right?” Mr. Solomon reached out and touched my elbow, stopping my exit.

I searched for an excuse, but nothing sprang immediately to mind. Damn Nick Milton. Already messing with my head.

“Ah, that’s this week?” Nick chimed in, rubbing his square jaw. “Shoot. Wish I’d known that. That’s the day I blocked off for the shoe endorsement meeting with you, Sydney.”

“Really?” Mr. Solomon asked, raising a dark, bushy eyebrow. “Well, I don’t want to stand in the way of an endorsement deal,” he said, reaching across the desk to slap Nick on his broad back.

“That shoe company’s been courting me for a while and I could really use Sydney’s expertise during the negotiations.”

“I’m sure you could. She’s a real superstar. That’s why we hired her away from that private firm.” Mr. Solomon winked and chuckled, a low, rumbly laugh. “We’ll miss you kids at the Gala, but I understand you have to grab those endorsement dollars while you’re able.” He patted Nick on the shoulder, then turned back to me. “Go get ‘em, Sydney. We need our boys to scoop up all the cash they can.”

I nodded, even as my mind spun. How did I not know about this? Last I checked, Nick was still out in the desert playing football. He was a lot easier to resist from three thousand miles away.

“Talk later, kids. I’ve got a meeting downtown I have to jet to. Nick, we’ll catch up after the holiday break.” Mr. Solomon stalked past us out of his office, head down, staring at his cell.

“What the hell, Nick?” I screech-whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, hello to you, too,” he said, grinning his signature grin that made me want to slap him and kiss him all at the same time. “Like Solomon said, I got traded. Coach wanted me back, so Calvin headed West and here I am. His style works better for that team, anyway. And I could ask the same about you being here. Except I already knew you left your firm and signed up with the team.”

“You did?” I stared at him, my mouth dry as toast.

“I follow you on social media.”

“Hmm,” I said, at a rare loss for words, chewing the inside of my lip.

“That’s it?” Nick asked, stepping in closer to me. Only inches apart now, I caught the alpine scent of his cologne, the mint on his breath, the light stubble peppering his face.

No, that definitely wasn’t it, judging by the hot pulses racing through me, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it standing in Mr. Solomon’s office on a Tuesday afternoon.

“Sorry, you caught me off-guard.” I took a deep breath, exhaled some of my jitters.

“Good thing we’ll have this week to work through it.”

I cocked my head. “What?”

“You just agreed to accompany me this week.” He shoved a hand in the pocket of his perfectly fitted jeans and I concentrated hard on maintaining eye contact.

“Umm, no I didn’t.”

“Yeah. You definitely did. To get out of the Gala.”

“The Gala? I totally wanted to go to that.”

He cocked his head at me, his eyes narrowed. “No. You totally didn’t.”

“Fine. True. Well-played, Mr. Milton.” I smiled up at him, softening a tad.

“Thanks. I stole it straight from your playbook. You better wrap up work early today so you can go home and pack your bags.”

I raised a brow. “Why? Where are we going? I thought you needed help with a shoe endorsement.”

“Eh, we can handle that over the phone. I really need you to go home with me. For the holidays.”

“What? No!” A hot flush rushed through me and the tips of my ears burned. “I couldn’t possibly.”

“A deal’s a deal. I saved you from the Gala; now I need you to come home with me to Starlight Bay.”